This bugs my ass…

Our company recently did a survey to see how they were doing among the staff – you know - to see how employees enjoyed working here. The results were not what the company was hoping for. They found that the biggest problem was with “employee engagement” which roughly translates into employee satisfaction. The numbers were not good which means the staff is not happy.

A ‘big’ effort has been made by many departments to try to improve this rating and some progress has been made. Evidence is shown by one business unit that sat down with their staff, laid out the concerns listed in the survey, and then asked for suggestions on how to fix it. Our business unit, however, decided that they knew what the problems were and exactly how to fix them without working with those that are pissed about the company in the first place.

So initiatives were put in place to correct some problems. Admittedly they do correct some problems in our department, but they don’t do much to address employee engagement. They fixed a problem with goal setting and now every person my properly complete their goal setting for the year. They also fixed some bugs with some software we used (but not nearly enough) and they hold more quarterly meetings for the general staff with the upper echelon to tell us how the company is doing. They of course are patting themselves on the back for having nearly completed all their objectives. Yet still many in our IT group don’t feel the “love” from higher up.

An example of where the company could make easy strides if they wanted to is the following. The tools we have to work with are gradually falling apart due to a policy of “run to failure”. “Run to failure” translates to this - basically you use your computer or software till it breaks. Then the company will fix it or replace it. Unfortunately, they don’t supply you with a replacement as quickly as the original fails. It creates a huge sense of frustration, especially when it’s a server that crashes and you need a new one right away. Panic fills the air and you had better work quick to get it fixed or someone’s job is on the line.

We used to have planned obsoletion - where a product would be replaced close to the end of its predicted life cycle. This way you were always using something that worked and no one’s job was on the line because a server crashed that you told your boss was about to fail any day. He of course says we can’t replace it till it actually breaks. Which means of course, that you’re on the hook for someone’s critical server and you are the lucky one that gets to fix it when it breaks. The same server that would have been swapped out in an orderly fashion with planned obsoletion. The stress continually creeps up as a result. Not a happy way to do your work.

This problem with equipment has not only been applied to computer gear but to our office furniture as well. We work on a floor with a conference room for about 10 people and in it are chairs that are about 6 or 7 years old. They were resurrected from the basement to fill the conference room temporarily but no one ever put in an order to have them swapped out with proper gear. The arms started falling off the chairs and I even cut myself on one of the exposed screws. So we put a request in to have them replaced (back in May) citing safety reasons.

Now if you knew anything about our company, you would know that ‘Safety’ is a buzz word you can’t ignore. Usually when someone cries foul in the name of safety, things happen in a hurry. Apparently not when it comes to office chairs. Our request came back with a promise for new chairs by the end of June. In the interim, someone came by to “glue” the arms back on the chairs to compensate for the safety concerns. Well, at the end of July we still had not received the new chairs so another request was made. We asked for 10 replacements. They brought us 6, stole 2 chairs from one of our break out rooms to make up some of the difference, and called it a day. The laughable part is that they didn’t even use conference room chairs. What we received in replacement was steno chairs that you might use in a pinch to put around a worktable or as a temporary guest chair when someone comes to visit your cubicle. What a joke.

Our company is a multi-billion dollar organization. They can’t afford to supply proper chairs to a conference room? What the hell is going on? If they paid attention to details on these sort of items, then employee engagement wouldn’t be so low. If they do another survey then I don’t expect that they will earn any more points than they did the first time around. Now … where did I put my resume….

That's Crazy!!!

Someone posted an ad on our classifieds at work today. It was for a rental place in Ft McMurray. I didn't realize how expensive it is to live up there till I read this ad. It's a brand new townhouse with about 1400 sq ft of developed space with an attached garage. Hardwood floors, nice bedrooms, jacuzzi tub, yadda yadda yadda... all the nice things you'd expect from a new townhome. However, before you can move in, you need to come up with $8000.00...

Yup you read that right. Rent is $3000.00 per month, and they want 1st and last months rent, plus they are also asking for a damage deposit of $2000.00 for a total of 8 grand. Wow.

That's just stupid crazy....

Rain Check - filled!

Newfie Speed and Sport (aka Canadian Tire) is an entertaining enterprise. Sometimes I am amazed at how they manage to stay in business.

Tonight I decided to go get myself a WINs number and a fishing license so I can go fishing with Darren, Arturo and Blaine tomorrow. I thought it was going to cost me 50 bucks, but it ended up being much cheaper than that and I am now set up for about 28 dollars.

While I was there I thought to myself... "heck, just for shits and giggles - lets see if this guy can find the 11 'in stock' tents that the girl couldn't track down on Tuesday". I explain to the guy all about my situation and how I'd been searching for one of these tents, how I ended up with a rain check, and how - when I keep checking the updated inventory on line, that it insists that Canadian Tire (at this location) has some of these bad boys in stock. "sure I'll go look for them" he says. The crafty bugger actually returns with one!!

Marvelous. :)

It costs me a bit of time, but the guy actually comes through for me. They *were* in the wharehouse, but it appears whoever did the search on Tuesday didn't look hard enough. Lucky me!! So now I have the tent I first bought 2 weeks ago. Only this time it was a 100 bucks cheaper.

Now I just have to find time to set it up and get it ready for next weekend. Maybe I'll do some camping. :)

Tent Shopping update...

So, I've been hunting around for a new tent to suit my camping needs and you know what they say... bigger is better! I started my search at the Army & Navy store here in Calgary. Lots of selection, plenty of big tents, and very decent prices. However, most of their tents still use the "sleeve" style for securing tent poles. I just find that waaaay to cumbersome to work with, making the whole process for setting up your tent a little more time consuming.

So I sauntered over to Newfie Speed and Sport (Canadian Tire for those that have never lived in McMurray) and had a look at their selection. Unfortunately they don't have anything set up so you can see what it looks like. I perused their selection and made some notes. They have a few tents that are in the size range that I'm looking for (5-6 man) with the sport hub pole system for setting up the tent.

Next I made my way over to campers village. Lots of expensive stuff just like Mountain Equipment Coop and then a few things that are more in my price range. They had a nice tent with a vestibule that also slept 6 people that was in my price range. Still - no sport hub tent pole system with the clip on's rather than the sleeves.... decent tents... but they might be a bit troublesome to set up.

I ended up going back to Canadian Tire and picked up a 6 man tent they had there since it was the last one and I wasn't sure if they would be bringing in any more tents. $240.00 bucks.... there goes my budge ($150.00) but at least I have a tent I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with. Took it home and was going to set it up but it threatened rain and I wanted a couple days to have it up to air out and "season" so to speak.

Then a colleague of mine at work told me about the great deals that Costco had on so I zipped over there to take a look. Not much for selection but they did have a 5 man tent with vestibule for a hundred bucks. Nice! It doesn't use the sport hub system, but the tent poles do clip on instead of going through the sleeves. I zipped back home with the tent, returned my Canadian Tire jobbie and set up the Costco version in my back yard.

I made it about 1/2 way through, cursing the whole time I was setting it up. This motha was a b!tch to set up. And Lordy... does it take up real estate. Good Gawd... the foot print almost sucks up my whole back yard!!! Man... this is almost a 2 person job.

When I got to the fly, the instructions said... "slide the pole through the sleeve in the fly (how did I miss that? Sleeve? There's not supposed to be any sleeves on this thing), then bend to fit in the ferrule and then peg down to secure. This is quite dificult and may require a bit of strength to accomplish"

It actually said that.... "may require a bit of strength to accomplish"..... oh oh.... warning bells start going off in my head. This does not bode well.

I figure what the hey... lets give it a shot. at first glance it looks like the pole will work out ok. Then as you feed it through the sleeve it appears to be too long. Wtf? So I start creating an arc, trying to bend the pole to fit in the ferrule. Sonofa.... bloody thing just doesn't want to arc anymore. The sleeve is holding it back. Ok... maybe I'm just not doing it right. I re-thread it through the sleeve and try again. Nadda.... still too long. So I re-read the instructions...

..... "may require a bit of strength to accomplish".....

Ok... I'm not Mr Universe, but surely I'm not such a pussy that I can't set up a tent and bend a pole to work in the fly. So I keep trying... bending .... bending.... bending.... Jeeez---us... this just doesn't want to work. Well, I may be a wuss, but I'm not stupid, I know how to use leverage to my advantage. I prop the pole up, and use my foot to create a leverage point and start bending it... .ahhhh much better.... bending.... bending... bending.... just a little bit more.....

"CRAAAACCCCKKKK" .... SONOFA GAWDDAMN MOTHAF@CK3R piece of sh!t tent!!!!!....

I'm sweating my bag off... I've had enough... I can't finish setting it up. So I toss the fly and all the rest of the gear inside the part of the tent that I already have set up, close it up and leave it. I'm taking it down and returning it. A couple of days later I finally get around to taking everything down and rolling it up.... bloody thing doesn't fit in the bag it came in either. Grrrrr... yet another reason to give it back. Well, time to find my receipt and take it back.

In the meantime, a flyer came out from Canadian Tire marking down the tent I originally bought and have already returned. 100 bucks off!! whoo hoo. So I hustle accross to their store and go looking for one. The only one they have left is one that looks like someone had already opened it and tried to stuff it back in the bag. Yikes. The bag is ripped and I can't say for sure what the condition of the tent inside is like. So I ask a friendly clerk to see if she can get one from the wharehouse for me (11 left in stock according to their computers). The wharehouse guy can't find any, and she figures that their computers just haven't caught up to the till reciepts for the tents that have been leaving the floor. Nuts. Luckily she offers a comprimise. I get myself a "rain check" and now I get to wait till the end of the month when their next shipment comes in. I sure hope they get some more in.

Whew... what a rigamarole huh? Who knew tent shopping could get so complicated. :)

Time for a new tent...

I did it. I survived my first foray into the woods for the summer camping season of 2007. Yaaaay and there was much rejoicing.

It was very good to get away from the city even if it was for only a couple of days. There were 5 of us that ended up camping for the weekend. Darren & Lori, Myself and Marc & Alison. There were supposed to be a few more, but alas, sometimes life just gets in the way.

I managed to get the Friday off and despite my best intentions I didn’t make it out to our campsite till about 2:30pm or so. I had originally planned to be out there for Friday morning. I was worried that the campground we had planned to go to, would be full in short order. They don’t take reservations for the Interlakes Campground in Kananaskis so you have to take your chances and go out early if you want a spot. I didn’t have anything to worry about though. The original forecast that predicted beautiful weather for the weekend, gradually turned sour. So I think that kept a lot of people at home that might otherwise have been there.

When I showed up at 230, all the lakeside spots were gone but there were still lots of other spots left over. They were actually pretty big sites too, so we had room to accommodate 3 or more tents and a truck with camper (plus all the other vehicles). Coincidentally, it was the last of the side by side spots as well. I think we did pretty good finding the spots although the next time I’m there I’ll try to get a spot on the lakeside with perhaps one directly across from it along the road.

Despite what the forecast had planned for us, the weather actually cooperated for the most part. There were moments of rain (that lasted all of about 20 mins) but the rest of the time it was pretty sunny. I don’t think anyone would have gotten a suntan from the exposure mind you... but it was still quite enjoyable. We ended up going for a stoll along the beach, checked out other campsites for potential spots next time, and we even managed to play a bit of Yahtzee too! The beer was cold, the company was good and the scenery was beautiful... what more could you ask for?

Well apparently we don’t get enough snow in our lives. Saturday night I went to bed and it was raining, but by Sunday morning the rain had stopped, but was replaced by Snow! I thought I had heard one of our tarps falling down earlier in the night. I was too lazy to get up to fix it though and didn’t pay much attention to it. Then at about 6:30am, I suddenly found myself pressed against the roof of my tent. At first I thought it was one of my friends playing a joke on me, and I assumed they had pushed the tent down on me. When no one replied or responded to the stream of curses that were emanating from me, I knew it must have been an act of God. I pushed the ceiling off of me, and knew right away that something was different when the snow started sliding off. Even after the snow was gone from the roof of my tent, something was still wrong. It didn’t flex back into place and that’s when I was sure that my tent was broken. Crap. It was a tent pole that broke under the weight of the snow. It would have to be a custom tent pole configuration too. Which meant either pricey repairs or not replaceable at all.

Looks like I have an excuse to buy a new tent. It really is too much effort to try to save the old one and I’ve been meaning to get a new one anyway. I lost a tarp out of the deal too. There's a nice big whole in it where one of the support sticks ripped through it. So I ended up just leaving the both of them behind for the trash. I just couldn’t justify it till now. When you have one already, a second one doesn’t necessarily make sense. I think I’ll get something bigger this time... perhaps something I can stand up in. If you have any suggestions for brand or style, feel free to let me know! I have a feeling it will just end up being another Canadian Tire special for a hundred bucks.

On a somewhat related note... My experiments with heating my sleeping bag went pretty good. I filled a hot water bottle one night and tucked it into my sleeping bag. The bottle was still warm (just a touch) when I got up in the morning! The next night I tried running a heating blanket off an inverter I brought with me. That also worked really well. Especially since the heating blanket actually has an auto shut off, I didn’t wear down the battery unnecessarily either. That might be worth a second try. The water bottle trick is worth revisiting too, but I need to find covers for them, ‘cause when they first go in, they’re almost too hot to the touch. I’d also need to get a second one, since the first one just warms a small area. The other problem with the bottle is that it requires some advance planning and you have to make sure (even in a drunken stupor) that you heat some water before going to bed. Of course the heating blanket means you have to remember the inverter and battery (and not to go crazy with it either – you need the juice! Be conservative). The last experiment I want to try involves some lava rock (the BBQ kind) and a pouch to hold them. The rock should be able to be heated by the campfire and then put in a pouch of some kind. Used much the same way as a hot water bottle, I expect to get similar results.

Compulsions and Addictions…

It’s funny how human behavior sometimes plays out isn’t it? What is it about humans that make us want to exploit a weakness in other people? Recently I participated in a “Fat Bastards” competition to lose weight. I don’t consider myself too far off the mark, but it makes good sense to lose the weight and move closer to an ideal state. I’d be healthier, have more energy, and will probably live longer with a few less pounds around the middle.

Unfortunately because it was a competition, you could not expect support from your fellow competitors. What you could get from them was sabotage. Yup… those unscrupulous bastards had no compunction against using temptation to entice their opponents into putting on weight rather than losing it. There was no team camaraderie. There was no desire to help someone reach their goal and give them the support they needed to succeed. It was every man for himself. Sheesh.

It definitely tested your discipline and strength of willpower. Those who really wanted to drop the pounds did succeed. I managed loose a few pounds and I’ve been able to keep it off, but I didn’t win the competition. I know that I need more discipline and character to truly be successful. I can do it on my own, but I will do much better when I am surrounded by a support network. What makes this kinda funny is the fact that I’ve turned into one of those bastards. *cringe*

One of the girls at work has decided to kick her “energy drink” habit. She’s hooked on Rockstar Burners and wants to cut back on the amount of caffeine she takes in on a daily basis. She has made bold claims about how she has gone cold turkey and is not looking back. Her addiction was pretty strong though, and sometimes she’d have more than one of these things during the day… the can even has a warning on it not to exceed more than one a day. She couldn’t go camping without bringing along a ½ dozen for the couple days. So it was no surprise when one of our other colleagues said… “I’ve got 5 bucks that says she’ll have one before the end of the week”.

Why am I the bastard? Well, I kinda agree with my colleague, I don’t think she will be able to last out the week before succumbing to the cravings. To further my claim, I’ve taken it upon myself to entice her into having a Burner to end the “cold turkey” abandonment of the energy drinks. I’m such a bastard. How can I do this, when she really needs my support and not my counterproductive machinations? I don’t know… but it is kinda fun, and it does stretch my creativity.

I started out by buying her a Rockstar Burner during our afternoon break on Monday and offered it to her. She refused. I then proceeded to tempt her senses. I poured my own beverage into a glass filled with ice. The sounds it makes – fizzing, ice clinking against each other in the glass, and the sound of the container filling up rising in pitch as it nears the top. I displayed what the carbonated beverage would look like sitting on her desk, still fizzing. The site of the frosty glass perspiring from cold liquid inside did nothing to tempt her. Of course I had to “talk up” the Burner, explaining in detail, how good it would feel to drink it, to feel the cold, dark, liquid cool you off as it slips down your throat. I tried to paint a picture of how wonderful it would be to have such a tasty beverage and the small little adrenaline rush she would get from the Burner after she drank it. Still - she resisted! She was going to be one tough little cookie.

I was not to be deterred. I stepped up my campaign. Next I took the rockstar, found a container and filled it with ice, and then nestled the blue can in amongst the cubes, almost like a bottle of wine chilling. The imagery is priceless. Soon the can cooled and droplets of moisture started to condense on the outside. As the cubes melted, the can sank lower into the container, settling in and making the visual even more powerful. And yet…. She still held her ground and kept away from temptation. I think had we started earlier in the day, we might have had an affect, but the day ended too soon and she was out of our realm of influence.

We tried the “ice bucket” scenario again on Tuesday. I think it was starting to make some headway too. I managed to prep it even a little bit earlier and had it cooling just before lunch. All afternoon it had been perched on top of the cubicle wall that separates’ us. She looks up to see her nemesis and the craving builds. For added effect, when I went for break today, I made sure to get a second Burner for her to drink. The down side to that is now she looks at this with renewed determination to hold out. She does not want to be “beaten” by us and our nefarious plans to make her crack. I gently reminded her, that she can easily outlast us… and yet she doesn’t have to beat *us* per se… but she must outlast the Rockstar and her craving for a Burner. Her battle is with the energy drink.

Next we will try a new tactic. Doug (my accomplice) thinks that we can tempt her even more by pouring a Rockstar into a glass. She cannot resist an open container of the sweet nectar! She cannot resist her “precious” lol. It calls her name! I don’t think it will be much longer and she’ll indulge. I am such a Bastard…

The Drama that is a wedding...

Well, my little sister finally got married this last weekend. I say “finally” but I don’t really mean it that way. It’s not like we were all waiting for her to tie the knot or anything. She isn’t an old maid either by any stretch of the imagination. Heck I’m 3 years older and still not married myself. The wedding was beautiful though, and my sister was a very lovely bride too. You can see for yourself when you head over to my Gallery webpage and browse through the few photo’s that I took. http://bitgeek.rezgeek.com/main.php?g2_itemId=6319

We celebrated her wedding in Radium BC on a beautiful mountain resort. A golf course backed right up to the hotel and we managed to have an idyllic setting for the festivities and all the photo’s and what not. Still, there were a few obstacles for my sister and her fiancé to deal with.

They started out with a Wedding planner when they first decided to get married in Radium. The concept of course, was driven mainly by the fact that Mick and Dave were over 600 km’s away and it would be rather difficult for them to get the stuff done that the wedding planner would take care of for them. So it started out worry free, and the wedding planner had everything well under hand... or so they thought.

Alas, poor Mick. The wedding planner was great for making suggestions and coming up with ideas, but very lacking in the execution department. Michelle and Dave ended up doing all the leg work that they assumed the planner would handle. Arrangements with the church and priest, the arrangements with the resort and banquet hall and the preparation of flowers and decorations etc were all conceptual things the wedding planner started, but Michelle and Dave ended up doing the actual work. So... like any rational person, Michelle fired her wedding planner. Why not? She was doing all the work herself anyway.

So she cut a check for the stuff that the planner did accomplish and went her merry way. Well, maybe in retrospect she should have found another wedding planner instead of taking on things herself. The work was tremendous. Her and Dave planned and took care of all the details which included the marriage course (mandated by the Catholic Church), the hotel bookings, the flowers, the decorations, the invitations, the dresses, color schemes and the music and much, much more. All looked after by Mick and Dave. Unfortunately some of these tasks require a personal hands on visit to make sure they are done right so, the two of them found themselves out in Radium on several occasions dealing with things in person. Did I mention that amongst these trials and tribulations that her wedding ring was re-sized and then returned with missing diamonds?? She had to confront the jeweller to get that corrected... but wow... i can’t believe the jeweller would defraud her like that.

Even a video presentation was done above and beyond what they really had time to do . So last month Michelle’s lease on her apartment came due. Mick was told that it was time to renew or move out. So she moved out to save some cash. Yikes. Then an opportunity to change positions at the hospital presented itself. So she went from the UofA hospital to the one in St Albert. The whole time she’s still arranging for her wedding plans. You may not know this either, but Michelle had surgery done about a year ago, and has been trying to get in to a specialist to see about having some cosmetic touch up surgery done. It’s not an easy waiting list to get on. Guess when they called for her appointment to have it done? Oh... about a month before the wedding. She had to cancel that appointment. The cosmetic surgeon has since called back to reschedule, but they wanted to do it in June... unfortunately when you take 2 weeks off for a wedding in May and then turn around and ask for another 4 weeks off in June (high season at the hospital) they don’t like that too much. So hopefully she can get it done in August or September.

On the upside the cosmetic stuff will really enhance her beauty but the recovery time and sacrifices to get it done mean that she will have to wait till after it’s finished to think about starting a family. Interesting quandary for a newlywed couple I’d say. Michelle really likes kids so waiting another year is something they will have to do if Mick wants the other surgery done first. Yowsa!! Talk about challenges.

I hope Michelle’s bridesmaids can forgive her for being a little on the Bridezilla side of things on her wedding day. Two days before the big event, the flowers for the reception were picked up. These are the deelies that end up in the center pieces on all the tables. Michelle had very specific colors in mind when she ordered them – a darker purple. What she got was a lighter version of this... almost pink. Not a huge deal since they still looked ok... but she was charged full price for the order even though they screwed it up. Talk about putting you in a bad mood.

The hotel messed up on a number of the room bookings when people were arriving. Those with special physical needs were supposed to be on the main floor, and ended up on the second floor. Not a big deal you say? Except that this was a lodge style hotel and they only have 3 floors – access is outdoors for the 2nd and 3rd floors and there are no elevators. Grrrrr. They gave people that requested a suite, a regular room with 2 queen beds instead. The cancelled one booking by accident and then told them that they couldn’t find them a room since they were all booked for the weekend. “Oh ok...” says Radium Resort “But the couple we have to bump will not be happy....” imagine that huh??

Remember the video presentation I was telling you about? The one Mick and Dave put together for the reception? It requires a projector , PA system, and a DVD player. Dave shows up to the hotel, and proceeds to check out the facilities to test everything out. “Oh yeah.... “ says the Radium Resort, “That projector has been broken since September and we haven’t had a chance to get it fixed yet. Did you bring a laptop? We can get you a portable projector” I think Dave was a little miffed to say the least. If I hadn’t brought a “line-in” audio cable that I use for my MP3 player, and if Mick hadn’t brought her Portable Ghetto Blaster, then they wouldn’t have had audio for the presentation. Not to mention that it was lucky that Dave had his laptop on hand as well. Nasty.

The hair salon that booked Michelle in for her “do” was running late, so accordingly Michelle was late getting back to the hotel to get ready for her own wedding. The way things worked out, her bridesmaids couldn’t help her get ready with the dress and all the girly things that had to be done. So it was just my mom and her. Then one of the Bridesmaids had her own trials getting ready and was also running late. Michelle was naturally frustrated and ended up being a little late getting out of the gates to make it to the church. Anxiety? Maybe just a little. Lucky for Mick, her priest was late as well. He arrived 10 minutes after the bride and groom got there and still had to put on his robes and arrange the stuff on his end. Whew... almost there

I hear it is good luck if it rains on your wedding day (I think they tell brides that to make them feel better). Well, did it ever pour down during the wedding ceremony! Flash flood! Still... it did clear up before everything was done and people had to leave for the hotel. No one was soaked. It also rained off and on throughout the afternoon while pictures were being taken. Luck actually was on her side this time. It only rained a smidge after the initial downpour and all the pictures happened without incident. I’m told that cloudy skies make for better pictures due to contrast reasons anyway. Yaaay something finally went in Michelle’s favour! J

The reception went without a problem and people really seemed to enjoy themselves. It was one of the few weddings I’ve been to where the dance floor was busy most of the night. Sometimes small weddings are better that way I think! J I managed to cut a rug for most of the night too! All the dance lessons I took paid off in the end and my dance card was full for most of the night.

In the end, everything was smoothed over or worked out. All the obstacles were overcome, and my sister is still has her sanity (I hope!). She and Dave (and with the help of friends and family) pulled off a great event and Michelle is now Mrs Schensema which i think is the most important part of this whole exercise anyway. I think however, I will learn from their experiences and just elope when it is time for me to get hitched! I just hope it isn’t a shotgun wedding!!! J

Mmmmmm Eye Candy for Desert please!

Holy cow! A few friends/colleagues decided we should go over to Eau Claire for lunch today. I was just going to sit at my desk and have some soup, but am I ever glad I went with them. I think I undervalued the idea of being single again. Let me just say this.... I love the sun! It brings out the best in people... specifically short skirts on women. Wow. No really... wow! There was soooo much to look at I think I'll have to go back again tomorrow to catch up on what I missed. Talk about incentive to improve my own physique. I didn't really notice the eye candy when I was dating, especially since my girlfriend was so easy on the eyes too. Now that I'm single, I definitely appreciate the affect warm weather has on a woman's attire.

Thanks Guys... lets do this again on every sunny day! ;)

Not a bad weekend at all...

Wow lots of stuff going on this past weekend.

Movies: Watched “Hot Fuzz” with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Freakin’ Hillarious. I cracked up almost the entire way through. I just know that “By the Power of GreySkull” will be a popular phrase at work for the next couple of weeks now. Lol. If you don’t know what this flick is about… let me help you out…


“Nicholas Angel is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. He's so good, he makes everyone else look bad. As a result, Angel's superiors send him to a place where his talents won't be quite so embarrassing - the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford. Once there, he is partnered with the well-meaning but overeager police officer Danny Butterman. The son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman, Danny is a huge action movie fan and believes his new big-city partner might just be a real-life "bad boy," and his chance to experience the life of gunfights and car chases he so longs for. Angel is quick to dismiss this as childish fantasy and Danny's puppy-like enthusiasm only adds to Angel's growing frustration. However, as a series of grisly accidents rocks the village, Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and as the intrigue deepens, Danny's dreams of explosive, high-octane, car-chasing, gunfighting, all-out action seem more and more like a reality. It's time for these small-town cops to break out some big-city justice. Written by Rogue Pictures”

I lifted that description off of the IMDB website. Simon and Nick have also starred in the movie “Shaun of the Dead” – another spoof movie based loosely on “Dawn of the Dead”. If you liked them in that movie, then you’ll love them in “Hot Fuzz”. :)

UFC: In the mixed martial arts world, things were really jumping for Dana White and the UFC. UFC 70 – Nations Collide, was held in Manchester England this weekend. The idea was to showcase fighters from around the world and host in a location other than the U.S. in order to increase MMA popularity and more specifically – UFC popularity. On the card were a number of fights, which included Michael Bisbing, Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko Crokop, Cheick Kongo, and Andrei Arlovsky. My favorite fight of the evening was undoubtedly the Main Event. Gabriel Gonzago was a 5-1 underdog to win and took out Mirko Crokop in the first round with an incredible head kick. Crokop crumpled and looked like he did some nasty damage to his ankle. When he fell, the ankle twisted and folded at a very odd angle underneath his body. I’m pretty sure your foot is not meant to do that sort of thing. Yowsa. For more info on MMA and the fights from UFC 70, check out www.mmanews.com

Hockey: Hockey… I would really rather not talk about Hockey. Alas, my poor poor Flames have crashed and burned. They lost in Double Overtime to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night. :( I guess I’ll have to jump from one Bandwagon to the next now… lol! :)

So What's Going On?

Time for another blog entry. It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. There are a few things going on right now that I might as well post some quick updates for.

A year ago on March 22nd 2007.. I suffered a heart attack and thankfully I’m still here and it’s still ticking. It’s always nice to celebrate an anniversary and have something to good to feel about. I’m amazed at how quickly a year goes by though. I feel pretty good, so if it wasn’t for the medication I have to take, I’d have a hard time believing myself that I even had a heart attack. Crazy huh?

Oh yeah... only another month and my sister will be married. There’s a concept that’s hard to wrap my mind around. It was difficult to grasp when my friends get married, but Mick is my sister and it’s weird to know that I’ll have a brother-in-law and potentially some nieces and nephews in the future. I’m sure Michelle is just swamped with wedding preparations, the new job, and domestic chores in the new house. I just hope she gets me some sort of itinerary soon for the reception. I’m supposed to be the MC and I have no idea what I’m supposed to prepare for. That reminds me, I should ask her where she’s registered at so I can get her and Dave a gift. ;)

In other news not directly related to me... two weeks ago, my hero George “Rush” St Pierre lost his welterweight belt to Matt “the Terror” Sera. What a crushing lost. He got ‘schooled’ by Serra and it was all over in the first round. I was soooo disappointed. At least he lost to a classy fighter. If anyone were to take GSP’s belt, I’m glad that it was Matt. J This weekend, we get to see UFC 70 for free on Spike TV. Should be a good show. Looking forward to seeing those fights.

My best friend celebrated his birthday on March 31st. Happy Belated Birthday Christian! I think he turned 36 for those looking to get him a card. ;)

My Tuesday night Dart’s team- The 285 Legion Centennials - took 4th place. Incredible considering this team has never made it to the playoffs before this year. Sweet! I think I am finally coming out of my slump – just when the season has wrapped up. I’ve been throwing pretty close to my old form. On the weekend I played in a jitney where my partner and I ended up in a 3way tie for first. We had a playoff and unfortunately the wheels fell off our wagon, but at least we did throw pretty decent just to get that far.

The Flames have finally started playing like they’re capable of. They’ve made the series 2-1 which just as easily could have been 3-0 if they had let up a bit. They play tonight here in Calgary, lets see if they can make the series 2-2. Who knows, they might even take one in Detroit when they head back there. Wouldn’t that be something!! Go Flames!!

Oh crap! You wouldn’t believe this but as I’m typing this entry, my cable service just went out. The game starts in 3 mins and I can’t watch it!!! Arrrgggghh!!! When I called shaw, they said service is out for my entire area and that someone has been working to fix it since 3pm. It’s now 7pm. My hope is not high that I’ll get to see the start of the game. Shit. I hope service is restored soon.

Last but not least, I’ve joined Facebook.com. What a cool website. If you get a chance to sign up, look me up or join one of the discussion groups I’m in. I can’t believe how many old high school friends are on there. Lots of people that I haven’t been in touch with for years are popping up. It’s a lot of fun to rekindle old friendships. J

It's almost here!

Oh man, I can’t wait for motorcycle season to arrive. We’re almost there. The temperature managed to get up to 17C today and boy was I pining to go out and ride. Still, there is wayyyyy too much gravel on the road right now. Even though it is nice enough to be out riding, the roads are still slippery with debris. *sigh* Oh well, what can you do? Wait - I suppose.

I think there are more riders at work than there ever has been before. It’s going to be a fun season. At least 3 new guys have been hired into IT that ride, plus 2 more are taking courses this summer to get their license and at least one of those guys has already offered money on a used bike. I’ll have to see about finding a new place to park before coming in to work this year. Spots are disappearing every year. It’s too bad too because soon enough there won’t be any places to park my bike and I’ll have to stop riding to work in the summer.

Really good friends of mine (Darren and Lori) just invested in a 2005 Goldwing. What a beauty. So I imagine there will be a few trips planned with them as well. Plus, Darren has sold his bike to Dez (or Zed as we like to call him), which was an older Goldwing (1981 if I recall). It has a rebuilt engine, but needs a little paint. Nonetheless, 2 wheels on the ground is still a very good thing. Maybe if I can get them to pose with their rides, I’ll see about posting a couple of pictures here.

Well, time to put the battery on the trickle charger and make sure everything is in order for when I decide to get my v-star back on the road. Maybe by the end of March. *fingers crossed*.

That’s a relief

I finally managed to get a hold of my doctor’s office to find out the test results of my Thallium Stress Test. I’m still not sure why the office was closed but the worry has eased. I’m told that there are no new blockages although my chart did show a bit of ischemia which I believe is from my original heart attack. Whew. I’m still ticking over without any serious glitches. It is definitely a relief to know that I’m not in jeopardy and that that the discomfort I was feeling is due to something else. I’m still not sure what the “something else” might be though. At least I can go back to exercising again and enjoying some of the activities I’ve been missing out on. On another note, I’m down 7 lbs from the beginning of January. I’m still on track to loose a couple pounds a week. Hopefully it will be enough to win the FBC, but even if I don’t, I’ll be very pleased to have dropped a bit of weight in the process.

Arrrrg ... stupid doctors...

So I make it to my appointment last week to have the Thallium test done, and while I'm getting the test, one of the nurses tells me there is a note on my chart. "Jason there is a request here for you to call Dr Boyne on Monday for the results". Ok... no biggie, I already knew this... so I'm not giving it too much thought.

Yesterday afternoon, I call the office. The answering machine tells me that they will be closed from the 11th to the 22nd. Today is the 16th. What the hell? They get me psyched up by telling me that they rushed me in to get this test done to make sure I'm not going to suddenly die from an unexpected blockage. It was the soonest they could fit me in. If they needed to take immediate action they wanted me to know about it as soon as possible after my test. At no time did they ever tell me that they would be closed the week following my test. In fact I was lead to believe that I should be getting info as soon as the Monday after my test (Jan 15). Now I get to stress out over this for another week? Do they have any clue what they are doing to me? Talk about a piss off.

Well, there's nothing to do but wait. I don't think it will do any good to give them a piece of my mind anyway. I don't think they really care. Jerks. sheesh.

What doesn't kill you....

Well, I have survived my Thallium Stress Test. Did 10 mins on their treadmill (continually getting faster and steeper every 3 mins) and didn't suffer a heart attack or dislodge a blood clot. Yaaaaay and there was much rejoicing. Now I must wait... with more anxiety to suffer through as they compile the data and forward it to my doctor. I might get a hint on Monday, but they said not to expect any news till Thursday. *sigh*. At least I can feel better knowing that I didn't suffer any pain while on the treadmill itself. That makes me feel pretty good actually. Still I worry about what my test results will reveal.

The Holidays….

The Holidays were fairly relaxing for me this year, which is something I was in fair need of. I had a couple days to enjoy all to myself before going up to Edmonton, which in turn gave me time to contemplate the news given to me by my Cardiologist on the 20th. I forced myself not to think about it overly much though and set about cleaning my place and doing some last minute shopping.

Saturday and Sunday were spent in Edmonton with my Folks and my Sister. As an added bonus my Mom’s brother and wife were there too. It was a great little visit. It was short though, and on Monday (Christmas day) I was on my way back to Calgary. This time however, I had a passenger with me, as Dad wanted to visit with his sister in Calgary. So I was lucky enough to visit two sides of the family throughout the holidays.

Dad and I even managed to throw some darts before he left back for McMurray on the 27th. I think we split a bunch of those games, but it was still a lot of fun. I wish the visit could have been longer.

The 30th was a pretty good day. I managed to throw some darts with a good friend of mine – Christian. He of course kicked my ass, but I managed to sneak in the occasional win so I wasn’t too disappointed. Later that evening was the broadcast of UFC 66. Great fights! Chuck Liddel retained his title in a fight against Tito Ortiz, but one of my favorites – Forest Griffin, lost a heartbreaker to Keith Jardine. Canadian Jason Macdonald took out Chris Leben. I was happy that he won since he fights out of Edmonton, but he looked really sluggish and not at all like the fighter I had watched defeat Ed Herman. He was pretty cocky after the fight was finished too. Good to see a Canadian do well, but I’m not a big fan of a fighter that struts like that after the win.

Dec 31st was also a pretty good day. I managed to visit with friends I haven’t seen in quite a while. I spent some time shooting pool over at Darren Rounce’s place after which we went over to Kelly and Tony’s place for drinks. We met up with Dez and Steph there before slipping over to the Kilt and Cabre down in Mackenzie town. The New Year’s party there was pretty good and the buffet had prime rib, lobster tail and ham for us to enjoy. Mmmmm mmmmm. It was sooo good I can’t believe I held myself back and didn’t go for seconds. My friend Christian joined us there just after we all arrived. It was a great time especially since Calgary won the hockey game that night too! I was surprised that the place wasn’t packed though. Still, plenty of eye candy to enjoy. ;)

I wasn’t thrilled to go back to work however. It was really nice sleeping in every day and being able to set my own agenda. Heck, even just playing with my cats was a treat. I’m sure that they enjoyed my company too. J Of course with my return to work, the worry I had suppressed before is now resurfacing. My Thallium Stress Test is only a week away. I’m dreading this test. I really don’t want to think of the possibilities of having another blockage and everything that goes along with that. I have to think positive but I still want to be realistic too. In the end, I can console myself with the fact that I have been actively trying to stay healthy and have not been very self destructive.

On the plus side, I have joined a weight loss competition at work to see about loosing a few more pounds. We are called the Fat Bastards Club (FBC for short) and have just over 20 members. It requires an entry fee of 50 bucks to join and the duration is 3 months. Over that time period, the person who looses the greatest percentage of fat will win the prize. I conservatively estimate that I will loose an average of 2 lbs per week for a total of about 24 lbs. That puts me at just over 10%. I think I’ll have a decent chance of being in the top 3 with that kind of weight loss. We’ll see what happens I guess. Maybe my competitors will lose their discipline and quit trying after a while, which should help my placement somewhat too. I’ll keep you posted with updates on this blog every once in a while.